The Ultimate Elephant Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
1 min
The Ultimate Elephant Quiz
Image: TONY KARUMBA/Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

About This Quiz

The elephant is the largest mammal that lives on land. You can identify the geographical origin of an elephant simply by the size of its ears. Take this quiz to learn more about elephants.
What is the largest mammal that lives on land?
giraffe
elephant
whale
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The elephant is the largest mammal that lives on land, but the whale is the largest mammal.

Advertisement

Where is the natural habitat of elephants?
Africa
Asia
both answers
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Elephants are native to both Africa and Asia.

Advertisement

What have elephants been trained to do?
act in the circus
pull heavy loads
both answers
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Elephants can be domesticated and have been trained to act in the circus and to pull heavy loads.

Advertisement

How much do elephants weigh?
2,000 to 4,000 pounds
6,000 to 14,000 pounds
10,000 to 15,000 pounds
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Elephants weigh between 6,000 to 14,000 pounds (2,700 to 6,350 kilos) and usually the female is a bit smaller than the male.

Advertisement

What is interesting about elephant's ears?
cool their body temp by flapping their ears
clue to geographic origin
both answers
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Elephants cool their body temperature by flapping their ears, and ear size can give a clue to the elephant's geographic origin.

Advertisement

Elephants with larger ears originate where?
Africa
Asia
both answers
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Elephants with larger ears come from the hotter climates of Africa.

Advertisement

When the elephant is scared, what does it do with its trunk?
blow a trumpet sound
flail it around
slap its side
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A frightened elephant uses its trunk to blow a trumpet sound.

Advertisement

How does the elephant use its trunk to drink?
sucks up water with its trunk
squirt water into its mouth
both answers
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The elephant sucks up water with its trunk, and then squirts the water into its mouth.

Advertisement

To cool off, what does the elephant fling on its back?
mud
dirt
both answers
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Mud or dirt flung on its back helps the elephant to cool off.

Advertisement

For short spurts, how fast can an elephant go?
10 mph
25 mph
40 mph
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

An angry elephant can charge at 25 mph (40 kph) for a short distance.

Advertisement

How does an elephant breathe and smell?
trunk
mouth
both answers
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

An elephant uses its trunk to breathe and smell.

Advertisement

Are elephants social animals?
herds
alone
neither answer
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Elephants are mostly social animals and live in herds. Females live with a heard of 15 to 40 others females, and their offspring plus a male leader. Males live alone or with small groups of other males.

Advertisement

Why would hundreds of elephant herd together?
droughts
spring rains
mating season
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Droughts and other disasters can bring hundreds of elephants together.

Advertisement

What has happened to elephants because of the market for ivory?
elephants have been slaughtered
elephants are threatened with extinction
both answers
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Elephants have been slaughtered for their tusks, and as a result African and Asian elephants are now threatened with extinction.

Advertisement

What event happened in 1989 that impacted the trade in ivory?
moratorium on the trade of ivory
moratorium on the trade of elephant products
both answers
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In 1989, an international moratorium on the trade in ivory and other elephant products was agreed upon by more than 100 countries.

Advertisement

How long may it take to train an Asian elephant?
two years
five years
10 years
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Asian elephants may be trained in 10 years.

Advertisement

How are Asian elephants trained for use as draft animals?
horse training method
lion training method
dolphin training method
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A training method similar to the one used to train horses is used with elephants.

Advertisement

How many species of elephants are there?
three
ten
twenty
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

There are only three species of elephants: the African savanna and African forest elephant and the Indian elephant.

Advertisement

How long do elephants live?
40 years
60 years
80 years
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

An elephant's lifespan is 80 years.

Advertisement

When do elephants mature sexually?
5 to 10 years
10 to 22 years
15 to 30 years
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Elephants mature sexually anytime from 10 to 22 years.

Advertisement

You Got:
/20
TONY KARUMBA/Stringer/AFP/Getty Images